Johannes Chin’ombe
GOKWE – Gokwe Central legislator; Victor Matamadanda has decried lack of educational facilities to accommodate a large population of disabled children in Gokwe, mainly those who suffer from trisomy 21.
During his recent visit to the constituency, he promised to build a special needs school for the area.
The pledge came during a constituency visit meant to distribute relief food for the disabled in the area.
In an interview, Matemadanda said he had observed a large number of young people with disability who are not going to school as a result of shortage in special need facilities.
Many of these children ‘in need of empowerment’ suffer from trisomy 21 popularly known as ‘down-syndrome’ he highlighted.
“What I have realized today is that most of the disabled people in Gokwe are young adults and they need empowerment. This I realized today and is quite sad.
“I am from today taking it upon myself to make sure that we build a school that caters for special needs as a way to assist these children. I have realized that most of them don’t go to school due to several challenges while they deserve equal opportunities as able bodied children,” Matemadanda said.
Matemadanda also highlighted that a recreational center will be important for the population in question.
He also added that his decision came through observing how able bodied people were struggling in the Covid-19 era a situation that translated the worst of scenarios to those with disability.
“The school should be supported by a recreational center to benefit the disadvantaged community in other available ways outside the classroom,” he added.
“I decided to start reaching out to the disabled after realizing how able bodied people who work were struggling and this definitely meant the worst to people with disabilities,” he further said.
Down syndrome or Down’s syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual disability, and characteristic facial features.
Matemadanda has managed to donate Covid-19 relief aid through partners not mentioned to Gokwe’s general populace with beneficiaries including orphanages, government workers and health facilities.
